Get rid of that ugly formatting with two simple tricks

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We are on a tiki tour around NZ. So far we have been to Taupo & Rotorua. And we are doing what you do when you are on a holiday – being lazy, going on walks, swimming in lakes, eating copious amounts of food and getting lost. Of course, all this means, I have very little time to access to internet & my blog. So the updates will be slow for next two weeks. Here is a quick tip (well, two of them) to keep you busy and awesome.

How to remove ugly formatting from your workbooks?

Do you have a colleague or boss (shudder) that loves to apply their special touches to every workbook their mouse lands on? Do you constantly wince and whine when you have to work on that spreadsheet.

Here are two handy ways to restore your data to its original glory.

Clear formats:

Simple, select the data you want formatting gone from, go to Home > Clear > Formats.

And Excel will weave an expelliformat spell at your data and make it clean.

Here is a quick demo.

clear-formats-excel-demo

 

Find replace formats:

If you are selective about which formatting to reset, you can use Find Replace (Ctrl+H) to do that. Just follow below instructions.

  1. Press Ctrl+H to launch Find Replace
  2. Click on Options button
  3. Click on Format button against Find area.
  4. Now select “Choose from cell” option and point to the cell that contains the formatting you want to reset.find-replace-formats-based-on-cell
  5. Click on Format button against Replace area.
  6. Now select “Choose from cell” and point to a cell that contains the formatting you want.
    1. Pro tip: If you have no cells with default formatting, just click any blank cell, Excel will use default settings.find-replace-formats
  7. Click on Replace All and bingo.

So there you go. Talk to you again from somewhere else.

PS: Here is a pic of all of us enjoying mesmerizing sun set on Lake Taupo. We are off to have fun on Rotorua gondola and luge.

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9 Responses to “CP044: My first dashboard was a failure!!!”

  1. Oz says:

    CONGRATS on the book!

    Thanks for this podcast. It's great to hear about your disaster and recovery. It's a reminder that we're all human. None of this skill came easily.

  2. Din Muhammad Samimi says:

    Hey chandoo
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    but as I have already stated in one of my previous email that it would be more helpful for us if you could release videos of your classes for us
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  3. Nafi says:

    The article gave me motivation, especially you describing the terrible disaster that you faced but how to get back from the setbacks. Thanks for that, but with video this will be more fun.

  4. Amankwah says:

    You always motivate me with respect of the tools in excel. How we can really exploit it to the fullest. Thanks very much

  5. Juan says:

    Thank you very much, Chandoo, for your excellent lessons, I am anxious to learn so valuable tips and tricks from you, keep up the great job!
    I truly appreciate the transcripts of the podcasts, because as a speaker of English as a second language, it allows me to fully understand the material. It'd be great if you can add transcripts to your online courses too, I am sure people will welcome this feature.

  6. David Evans says:

    Dashboards for Excel has arrived in Laguna Beach, CA! Thanks!

    Now I need to make time to "learn and inwardly digest" its contents as one of my high school teachers would admonish us!

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